28th Week in Ordinary Time (B) : Wednesday 13th October 2021

For Paul, love was the centre of the Law and was shown by one’s deeds. Paul was speaking to both the Jews and the Gentiles. They should not think that they could judge others for their evil deeds and then not judge themselves. God’s kindness was meant to lead them to repentance, not to excuse their bad deeds. Paul reminded the people that God would be repaying them for their deeds – those who acted with kindness and humility would be rewarded while the selfish would be punished. Paul also reminded the people that God treats all people equally – there was no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

The passage from Luke continues this theme of love and judgement. Jesus called to task the Pharisees at the dinner party for neglecting justice and the love of God although they were faithful in tithing; they loved to be respected but were less concerned with justice and mercy than with outward piety. People of all religions have been guilty of this. The lawyers were chastised for burdening people and not helping them and for preventing others from gaining knowledge. Knowledge represented power then as it does today.

Lord, help me to act in love towards all people.